The production of most industrially important chemicals involves the use of catalytic materials in which catalysis changes the rate of a chemical reaction. In addition, the catalytic material participates in the reaction but is not consumed in the reaction itself. Stated differently, a catalyst provides an alternative reaction path for one or more reactants becoming one or more products without being consumed in the reaction.
In some catalyst applications, expensive metals such as gold, platinum, palladium, etc., are used, and as such, a relatively small amount of the catalytic material is located on a support material and a process fluid is allowed or forced to come into contact with the catalyst material. For example, catalyst particles can be supported on fibers and a gas can be forced through the fibers, come into contact with the catalyst particles which can then assist in a desired chemical reaction.
It is also desirable to have a large surface area of the catalytic material exposed to a process gas in order to provide more reaction sites for a catalyst assisted chemical reaction. As such, nanoparticles of catalytic materials such as gold, platinum, palladium, rhodium, and the like have shown promise for use as part of a catalytic system. However, many catalytic systems are used at elevated temperatures which can result in the agglomeration or sintering of the nanoparticles. In so doing, the total surface area of the catalytic material decreases and the unique catalytic properties of nanoparticles can be lost. Therefore, a sinter resistant catalytic material would be desirable.